From September, the Catlin Seaview Survey, run by the University of Queensland in conjunction with insurers the Caitlin Group, will take to the water to conduct 360 degree panoramic filming of the greatest reef on earth, with Google making all 50,000 images available on Google Results, Google Earth and Google Maps through a new feature in Panaramio. There will also be a dedicated YouTube channel and live streams of the expedition team at work.

Professor Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Global Chane Institute and Chief Scientist on the project, said “The Catlin Seaview Survey comprises a series of studies which will reveal to the public one of the last frontiers on Earth: the oceans.

“For the first time in history, we have the technology to broadcast the findings and expedition through Google. Millions of people will be able to experience the life, the science and the magic that exists under the surface of our oceans. This project is very exciting.”

The survey will take place in three stages; a shallow reef survey of 20 sites across the2300km of the reef, a deep water survey using robots to depths of 30-100 metres, and finally a mega-fauna survey that will explore how green turtles, tiger sharks and manta rays migrate in response to ocean temperatures.

A spokesperson for SEO Company SachaMango Media, said: “This is a great example of how technology can be used to not only to help make ground-breaking research a reality, but also to educate and inspire the public to learn more about the underwater world around us. It forms an important link between scientific knowledge and public awareness, and gives people an opportunity to see rare sites that they might never get to see unless they actually visited Australia and went underwater themselves. The project will allow us all to go for a virtual dive without ever leaving the comfort of our own armchairs!

The survey is set to begin in September, although the project’s website already has some images from initial equipment testing and a demo of how the panaramio images will be viewed. However, there are already plans underway to document some of the most important oceans in the rest of the world.

“It’s no surprise that Google has got involved,” said the spokesperson.” As the biggest occupier of search space in the UK – some 93% – and with the features like Google Results, Earth and Maps already popular with the public, it makes sense they should be the partner of choice to develop the applications needed on its advanced platforms to view the incredible images that will come from the project.”

QueryClick advise users on the recent changes to the Google homepage as part of its ongoing revamp.

Google has unveiled a new look for its homepage in what is being described as one of the firms ‘biggest changes to date of its homepage’. The revamp, which has been rolled out to a few selected users, has been designed to showcase all of Google’s other products to users – without having taking up too much of the homepage.

Christopher Liversidge, Managing Director of QueryClick explains: “The revamp of Google’s homepage is something that’s been around for a few weeks, and essentially it has been created in order to streamline and ‘tidy up’ Google’s homepage. Currently a user may see the ‘revamp strip’ along the top of the Google homepage, and when this strip is clicked, it reveals seven different Google products, such as Maps, YouTube, Images and Google+ to the user, with the option to reveal another eight related topics, including Calendar, Translate and Reader.”

This revamp, which Google has explained has been created in order to promote all of Google’s services to users in the most accessible and tidiest way possible, unlike some of the other search engines available, such as Yahoo’s infamously ‘busy’ design. Users will also be able to navigate to certain Google services much more easily as this redesign means a maximum of two clicks is all that is needed for a user to move from the homepage to another Google page, such as News or YouTube.

Christopher continues: “The Google homepage had undergone various redesigns since 1998, but the homepage has always stuck to the original format, that is the Google logo, the search bar and the list of all Google’s other services. However, this is the first time that Google has moved away from this design, and it;s very likely that these changes will have come about because of user feedback and case studies, and at QueryClick we know how important SEO case studies are to the search industry, so we’re really looking forward to seeing how this redesign will be received by users.”

Trackthisnow.com is a unique website that tracks news articles on any topic across the world in real time. The service at the moment tracks 236 countries world wide and presents it on a view of the world map. Using the service is simple. You can enter a keyword and trackthisnow.com will track a graphical representation of where news stories on your chosen topic are appearing, overlayed onto a world map. You can then click on the countries on the map to see the news from them. Tracking happensat the click of a button without the need for the user to login or go through any other formalities and delays.

“The novelty of this site is the topic specific global search that it launches with instant results, rendered in a crisp format for a quick and easy view.”Says Gauri Narayan, Co-Founder of trackthisnow.com.

Right now, the service tracks news in every country in the world but plans are on to enable tracking at the city level as well. The site uses web 2.0 to find news from different countries and uses Google Maps for plotting the coverage. The software is currently tracking in access of over …??……… publications across 236 countries. This number is expected to rise in the next development phase of the website in December 2008.

Here is what some of the initial users of trackthisnow.com have to say about the website;

“Since the news is always the most recent, it is particularly useful when you want to track something on a daily basis” – David Friedman, UK

“It’s a great tool for people like us to keep track of the latest developments and trends in the global context; making comparative assessments, studying the impact and planning ahead.” – Vidur Kohli, India

“I work for a digital marketing firm and I find this site so user friendly. It’s the quickest way I’ve found, to discover what the entire world feels on any given topic. Excellent.”Thiago Meister, Brazil

“I discovered this site 3 days ago and I have already been on it 15 times. Just to show its quick, easy and ever so relevant. Great asset for people like us involved with public affairs and diplomacy.” – Sharath Saxena, India